Last month, HHS issued a proposed 2018 Physician’s Payment Rule that included changes to Medicare payment rules, coding, and quality measures for next year.
Of particular interest to ACL stakeholders, the proposed rule would boost physician compensation for longer appointments to provide preventative care for harder-to-serve Medicare beneficiaries, such as older adults and individuals with disabilities.
If adopted, the proposed rule would not result in increased Medicare cost-sharing as it would be limited to preventative health care. The new proposed codes: GYYY1 and GYYY2 would refer to “prolonged preventative services (beyond the typical service time of the primary procedure).”
CMS is inviting stakeholder comments on this and all other proposals. Comments are due by Monday, September 11, 2017 and can be submitted via Regulations.gov.